Unitedhealth (UNH) Operating Margin (2009 - 2026)
Unitedhealth (UNH) reported Operating Margin of 5.82% for Q3 2026, up 2.01 percentage points from 3.81% a year earlier but down 1.31 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Unitedhealth (UNH) Operating Margin (2009 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
Over the twelve months ended Sep 30, 2026, Unitedhealth's Operating Margin came in at 5.32%, down 0.74 percentage points year-over-year; for FY2025, it came in at 4.24%, down 3.83 percentage points from FY2024.
- Operating Margin has declined for three consecutive years, with a five-year change of -4.48 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- By year, Operating Margin came in at 8.07% in FY2024 (-0.64 pp), 8.71% in FY2023 (-0.06 pp), 8.77% in FY2022 (+0.44 pp) and 8.33% in FY2021 (-0.38 pp).
- Five-year quarterly Operating Margin spans a low of 0.34% in Q4 2025 and a high of 9.23% in Q3 2023.
- Year over year, Operating Margin gained in three of the last eight quarters, with an average year-over-year change of -1.42 percentage points.
- The high point for year-over-year Operating Margin in five years was Q2 2026 (a gain of 2.52 percentage points); the low point was Q4 2025 (a drop of 7.38 percentage points).
- Per Business Quant data, the three quarters before Q3 2026 came in at 7.13% (Q2 2026), 8.05% (Q1 2026) and 0.34% (Q4 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | Operating Margin (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unitedhealth | 356.05 Bn | 236.68 Bn | 35.71 Bn | 5.82% |
| 2 | Mckesson | 123.13 Bn | 104.51 Bn | 3.96 Bn | 1.45% |
| 3 | Cvs Health | 109.04 Bn | 57.80 Bn | 47.21 Bn | 3.29% |
| 4 | Elevance Health | 90.56 Bn | -52.02 Bn | 13.65 Bn | 4.18% |
| 5 | Cigna | 77.41 Bn | 46.27 Bn | 15.09 Bn | 3.25% |
| 6 | Cencora | 66.63 Bn | 55.53 Bn | 3.61 Bn | 1.32% |
| 7 | Cardinal Health | 63.51 Bn | 46.67 Bn | 2.60 Bn | 1.12% |
| 8 | Humana | 50.79 Bn | -37.07 Bn | 5.50 Bn | 3.33% |
| 9 | Centene | 33.94 Bn | -60.76 Bn | 9.52 Bn | -0.61% |
| 10 | Molina Healthcare | 10.37 Bn | -24.63 Bn | 1.36 Bn | 0.96% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | 5.82% |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 7.13% |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 8.05% |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 0.34% |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 3.81% |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 4.61% |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 8.32% |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 7.71% |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 8.64% |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 7.97% |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 7.95% |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 8.14% |
| Sep 30, 2023 | 9.23% |
| Jun 30, 2023 | 8.67% |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 8.80% |
| Dec 31, 2022 | 8.32% |
| Sep 30, 2022 | 9.22% |
| Jun 30, 2022 | 8.88% |
| Mar 31, 2022 | 8.67% |
| Dec 31, 2021 | 7.51% |
API Access
Unitedhealth Operating Margin API
Pull this series into your own models, spreadsheets and apps with the Business Quant
Historical Metrics API. The request below matches the chart above — change the
frequency, period or values and it follows. Swap YOUR_API_KEY for your own key.
https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=operating-margin&ticker=UNH&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "operating-margin", "ticker": "UNH", "period": "max", "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
data = requests.get(url, params=params).json()const res = await fetch("https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=operating-margin&ticker=UNH&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();